Warning: This card could be Spoiler-y if you aren't caught up with the Fairy Tail manga!

So, Fairy Tail just did another time skip. This time, it's just a year, and it happens more organically than the Tenrou Island 7 year skip that happened before.

Honestly, it makes sense. After the Tartaros arc, the story needed some time to put some new stuff together. The time skip, short though it is, allows for the characters to seek new strengths and skills, as well as potential new realms for character development.

So far, it's being handled really well, too.

One of the things that's really cool about the time skip is that the characters can come back with these new powers, all under the expository blanket provided by the time we don't get to see.

Probably my favorite powerup so far is Lucy and her new ability, "Stardress" where she can take on certain abilities of her celestial spirit summons, dressing accordingly to whichever one is summoned. Though it still needs work, this is an interesting new facet for Lucy's power. Summoning the Celestial Star King in the Tartaros arc was a cap to her ability that didn't seem to lend itself to going farther.

It's cool to see the new abilities she's picked up.

Another awesome powerup is Gray, who seems to be gaining new mastery over the devil-slaying magic he got from his father. Initially, it seems that Gray has become evil as a result of it corrupting him, but pretty quickly it's revealed that he's working undercover in the dark guild Avatar.

In the Tartaros arc finale, we got to see some super awesome magic out of Gray, and now having had a year to train it and practice it, it's exciting to see what potential he has. It seems like now more than ever, Gray is competing on a level with Natsu.

Without a doubt the coolest part of the time skip was seeing Acnologia in his Human form. Who even knew he HAD a human form!? In any case, this is a super cool look for the evil dragon-slayer turned dragon.

It will be exciting to see the role that Acnologia plays in the upcoming chapters, as Fairy Tail prepares to face off against Zeref and the Alvarez empire.

I know there's some Fairy Tail fans in the anime community! What do y'all think about the new developments?

what number of the manga are you up to? I'm up to 449. (not sure if that's the last one out so far), honestly my favorite part of this portion was Gray's but I may be a bit biased because my two favorite characters are Gray and Wendy. the character development for both of them has been amazing, and definitely keeps me looking forward to the next fight scene (whether in the anime or in the manga). Lucy's new ability is interesting but I feel like it makes her look rather awkward? Just my take on her Saggitaurius form, but I'm still looking forward to the continuation of the story.

@n3xt i do wanna c what happens to lucy and brandish. im really digging Brandish for some reason. i really like how the other FT characters get to shine like Freed and the gun loving family :) tbh im really digging this all because of Mavis and Wendy